REFLECTIONS:
Begin your study by sharing thoughts on this question.
1. Think of a time when you were sure God heard your prayer. How did that confidence build your faith?
God's Word is alive and full of power. It is active, operative, energizing, and effective. This is why we are to obey His Word and do those things that He says for us to do. Prayer is the living Word in our mouth. God will move as we pray in faith and obey His commandments.
Your prayers will be hindered if there is un-forgiveness in your heart. God is not obligated to answer the prayers of those who have unresolved things in their heart against another person. Many prayers go unanswered because of un-forgiveness. You can't have hatred in your heart or that old "get even" mentality in your heart if you want to have an effective prayer life
DISCOVERY:
Explore the Bible reading by discussing these questions?
2. How does prayer make the difference in the lives of men?
3. What are the elders of the church to do for someone who is sick? Why?
TEACHING TEXT: James 5:14-15
Paul asks the question, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church..." The elders of the church referred to here are the men who are ministers and leaders in the church. We must not forget that the early church had a lot of men, men who were not ashamed to take the lead in their expressions of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The women were very involved in the work of the church as well, but very few were leaders and ministers.
The men of the church were called on to pray for the sick and to anoint the sick with oil. They would do both of these in the Name of the Lord. That is, they know the Lord alone is the Healer of all sickness.
There is sickness that goes b...
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... just like we do. He had to deal with the same faults and failings as every one of us do. James is driving home the point that Elijah even though he was a prophet of God he prayed as a man (a man with human frailties just like our own). Yet Elijah (the man) prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Then he pray for it to rain, and it did.
The point is this: prayer--earnest and fervent prayer is effective; it works. The prayer of a righteous man (a believer) will produce power, God's power, to get the job done.
THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION
6. What is oil a symbol of?
7. Why should we confess our faults one to another?
8. What circumstances beyond our control can we affect through prayer?
9. How have others helped you when you were drifting in your relationship with Christ?
10. What hinders men from praying with confidence?
Second, the instructions to Timothy regarding the management of the Church and of worship. Explained to him the nature of people who could be overseer and a helper of the Church.
In the “Model Prayer”, Jesus taught that prayer is to be directed to the Father, showing His role in prayer: “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). Prayer, being directed to the Father, goes through Jesus (the Word), as He is the “one Mediator between God and men” (1 Timothy 2:5). Finally, the Holy Spirit’s role in prayer (though less clear than that of the other two) is to help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). It is in this area, more than almost any other, that many attempt to change the assigned roles of each member of the Godhead. While the Father’s role in prayer is for it to be directed to Him, many attempt to direct prayer to the other two members of Deity. Because each member of the Godhead has such a clearly defined role in prayer as revealed in Scripture, to attempt to change of modify those roles seems to be quite presumptuous, unauthorized, and dangerous. Instead, let us hold fast to the Divine pattern for prayer as laid out in the
E.M. Bounds wrote a wonderful book devoted to prayer entitled Power Through Prayer. This book encourages the preacher to become a true prayer warrior. E.M. Bounds has written many books on prayer, encouraging Christians to devote their life to prayer. Since the writer is coming from a preacher background himself, one can clearly see the passion he has for prayer in his life. Fellow preachers will hopefully be encouraged by this and want to devote their life to prayer, so that they will better their preaching. Bounds exemplifies through his work that preaching has no power without prayer. He also sets forth the idea that prayer is the life-giving force behind our work for God. In reading this book, it inspires one to pray more and be able to be more effective in their ministry.
The cornerstone of any relationship with someone is the ideal of grace and mercy. When grace is absent, dealing with people becomes difficult we develop issues with trust. Grace involves hoping that God is listening and will answer all prayers in ways according to His will. Digging into the cross of hope and prayer, this paper discusses the theological definition, biblical foundation, and practical application in order to identify how the two connect. These principles have helped me learn what it means to be a Christian.
Mitchell, Curtis C. 1984. "The case for persistence in prayer." Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 27, no. 2: 161-168. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 16, 2014).
B. See how God helps? It is in our distress, when we feel weak, the Spirit prays for us. It is all about trust and dependence on God. God will work things out. So stand firm in truth that God assigns no blame, truly forgiven of sins. No condemnation for those in Jesus (Rom.8:1 ff.) So the Spirit of life dwells in all true believers and it is His Spirit that continues to help. Apart from God we have no life.
Elders are spiritual mature Christian men whose religious work may be some specialized in a specific spiritual nature. Elders provide moral guidance, they designate and approve Bible Study curriculum, select Sunday school teachers, and select the Preachers, Deacons and Ministers when a position becomes vacant. Elders are also called pastors, sheperds, and bishops. Each congregation selects it's own elders, through a confirmation process to see if each Elder fits the description of an Elder found in the New Testament (1 Timothy 5:17-20, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Titus 1:5-9).
Do you think prayer changes things in life or is it just your conscience that changes things? This question relates to--#5 (Sire, 2009, p.22). She thinks that it is helpful for some people to cope with difficult life situations. But she, herself does not believe in a supernatural being that actually listens to prayers, however, it may evoke change and motivation for people who need something accomplished or
The reason for this is when leaders say that God will answer all prayers, they are showing no regards for the spiritual state of their church members. Even more, they ignore most parts of the Bible except for a few verses such as, “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find” (Luke 11:9~10). With these few verses, these leaders do not look at what is behind and in front of the context, yet they are confident in what prayer is.
3.) God also speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit usually talks to us from our hearts. Have you ever experienced that? Like, sometimes, just out of the blue, you get this little voice or urge in your heart telling you to pray or read the bible? That’s the voice of the Holy Spirit and you shouldn’t ignore it. Or you could also be in the middle of a test and you’re stuck on one problem. You know you’ve seen the problem before, but you just can’t remember the right answer although you’ve prayed right before taking that test and all of a sudden the answer just came to you?
The beginning of my faith journey can be described as rocky, at best. Each Sunday morning my dad would stay home just so that he could catch every possible second of Sunday football coverage. I wasn't even exactly sure who God was; my mom just told me I had to go to church "'cause I said so." This upset me, especially as a child. Furthermore, the example that my father set for me was far beyond comprehension. Who was he to tell me to go to church when he didn't even go himself? For a long time, I lost trust in my parents because I was being led on so many different paths.
For my assignment I have decided to choose a group which I have just finished taking for level 1 Hairdressing and they have progressed on to level 2 Hairdressing. This is within my current role as a hairdressing lecturer at Hugh Baird College which I have done since October. Within this group there are a couple of people who have support workers. There is one student within the group who has severe learning difficulties and is a more mature student. She also has many health problems which results in her having to carry an oxygen tank around for when she has any problems with her breathing due to her having problems with her heart. There is also another student in the class who has learning difficulties, she is very clever but just needs someone there for when she needs something explaining. She also has a support worker that comes in to give her support. This student has also been going through personal problems at home and has attendance issues. There is another student within this group who has severe dyslexia. She doesn’t have a support worker but the support people who are in there do give her help as she can have a tendency to give up, not to listen and just needs to be kept on track so by sitting next to a person that does have a support worker she gets the help from them. These three students have all had their level 1 qualification extended for a year were the rest of the group have progressed on to level 2 Hairdressing. Two of these students may progress on to level 2 but one doesn’t have the ability to be able to do this as the requirements are too high for her. The reason the course was extended for them was because they were struggling with the work that was required for this qualification, but as the col...
...oly Spirit’s gifts of strength, faith, peace, and courage. Though the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, the Catholic Church carries out of what Jesus started out long ago. The Church carries out the mission of compassion and healing for the sick. I have never received this sacrament, but I do know someone who has and I do think that it help him heal. “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he [Jesus] laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” Luke 4: 40
Prayer is important because it allows us to have an intimate conversation with the Lord, as well as a relationship. It helps build our relationship with Him and makes it only even more powerful each time. Also, by praying, we are allowing and putting all of our faith into God's hands and letting him take the wheel and be in control of our lives and guiding us into making smart choices and decisions.
We need to look at prayer with deeper thoughts. Prayer isn’t just closing your eyes, folding your hands, and speaking. Prayer is a much more meaningful part of religion. We all need to pray, God himself demands us to pray. Prayer is defined as an act of God, a god or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving.